This essay will show that rather than the Internet being a guarantor of liberty it is more an intrusive source of surveillance. Mobbs (2003) defined internet surveillance as monitoring the everyday activities and communications of individual’s. Deibert, Rohozinski (2007) explained liberty as personal freedoms, being free within society from oppressive restrictions imposed by authority on personal behavior or political views.
According to Giddens (2009) while the Internet is a source of "stunning technology", not only used for shopping or as an educational tool, the Internet also enables communications across the globe opening up new friendships in the new world of cyberspace, where people from all over the world can converse and learn about different cultures, cities and towns that they may never reach in person.
Sharman (2012) stated, Internet shopping is on the increase globally, because it is convenient and frees up personal time. Many sites have price comparisons, which enables people to shop around in the comfort of their own home. With the added attraction of being able to research and review both the retailer and the item in which they wish to purchase. With a belief, that the payment methods, are secure, when purchasing from reputable online retailers. Flexibility within Internet shopping ensures liberty. However, there are many dangers to shopping online. According to Mukerji (2013), on purchasing items many websites will ask for personal details, some details required may not be necessary and can be an endeavoure to acquire the identity of the purchaser. Moreover, Identity fraud can have a direct impact on personal liberty, affecting credit ratings and inhibiting the possibility of gaining credit in the futu...
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...life , open University press, Buckingham.
McLaughlin E and Muncie J (2013) Criminological perspectives, Sage production Ltd London
Mobbs,P (2003) GreenNet Civil Society Internet Rights Project. Revision 1, http://www.internetrights.org.uk/ date accessed 15/10/13
Mukerji, c. (2013) How to shop on line safely, http://businesstoday.intoday.in/story/how-to-shop-online-safely-make-payments-safeguard-identity/1/194372.html (date accessed. 05/11/13)
Reporters without borders, (22/6/13) http://en.rsf.org/who-we-are-12-09-2012,32617. Date accessed(20/10/13)
Sharman, ( 2012) On line shopping, http://ventureburn.com/2012/04/online-shopping-on-the-rise-price-convenience-security-key/ ( date accessed. 05/11/13)
Sinico (12/3/13) Online surveillance threatens Internet freedom, http://www.dw.de/online-surveillance-threatens-internet-freedom/a-16655554 date accessed (1/11/13
There is considerable utilitarian value in extending privacy rights to the Internet. The fear that communication is being monitored by a third party inevitably leads to inefficiency, because individuals feel a need to find loopholes in the surveillance. For instance, if the public does not feel comfortable with communica...
Edward Snowden is America’s most recent controversial figure. People can’t decide if he is their hero or traitor. Nevertheless, his leaks on the U.S. government surveillance program, PRISM, demand an explanation. Many American citizens have been enraged by the thought of the government tracing their telecommunication systems. According to factbrowser.com 54% of internet users would rather have more online privacy, even at the risk of security (Facts Tagged with Privacy). They say it is an infringement on their privacy rights of the constitution. However, some of them don’t mind; they believe it will help thwart the acts of terrorists. Both sides make a good point, but the inevitable future is one where the government is adapting as technology is changing. In order for us to continue living in the new digital decade, we must accept the government’s ability to surveil us.
Present day, it is seen that the government is having more control over the country which in effect, poses a danger to the people. They lose their individuality in response to the country aiming to be all-powerful and stable. In today’s society, the government has everyone under surveillance through the internet, cell phones, and even vehicles. Many would argue that it is an act against the privacy of the people a...
“Human beings are not meant to lose their anonymity and privacy,” Sarah Chalke. When using the web, web users’ information tend to be easily accessible to government officials or hackers. In Nicholas Carr’s “Tracking Is an Assault on Liberty,” Jim Harpers’ “Web Users Get As Much As They Give,” and Lori Andrews “Facebook is Using You” the topic of internet tracking stirred up many mixed views; however, some form of compromise can be reached on this issue, laws that enforces companies to inform the public on what personal information is being taken, creating advisements on social media about how web users can be more cautious to what kind of information they give out online, enabling your privacy settings and programs, eliminating weblining,
It has become a sad and upsetting fact that in today’s society the truth is that the right to one’s privacy in the I.T (information technological) world has become, simply a joke. In an electronic media article “No place to hide”, written by James Norman, two interesting and debatable questions were raised: ‘Are we witnessing the erosion of the demarcation of public and private spaces brought on by the networked economy and new technology?’ Also, ‘What roles do government, industry and citizens have in regard to censorship and privacy?’ These statements ultimately end with the fact that it is impossible for Net users to expect privacy online, because online privacy doesn’t exist. However, one must ask, ‘What will be done about the problem?’ while keeping in mind that yes, the thin line between public and private spaces has been severed as a result of new technology. It is vital that everyone as users of the internet, be it government, Internet Service Providers (ISP’s), or individuals, need take the issue of internet privacy very seriously, while basing all actions towards the issue with the moral statement of, ‘Rights aren’t free, they’re earned’.
Part of the allure of the Internet has always been the anonymity it offers its users. As the Internet has grown however, causing capitalists and governments to enter the picture, the old rules are changing fast. E-commerce firms employ the latest technologies to track minute details on customer behavior. The FBI's Carnivore email-tracking system is being increasingly used to infringe on the privacy of netizens. Corporations now monitor their employees' web and email usage. In addition to these privacy infringements, Internet users are also having their use censored, as governments, corporations, and other institutions block access to certain sites. However, as technology can be used to wage war on personal freedoms, it can also be employed in the fight against censorship and invasion of privacy.
Privacy is becoming rare as our society continues to become more industrialized and move towards a society hyper-focused on technology. Nicholas Carr explains this obsession with technology in his essay “Tracking Is an Assault on Liberty.” He identifies three dangers that are present in today’s internet society that are: personal data can fall into the wrong hands easily, personal information may be used to influence our behavior, and personal privacy is eroding and may lead us as a society to devalue the concept of privacy. These dangers are not only possible but they are seen in our world today.
Schmidt, E. E., & Cohen, J. (2014, March 11). The Future of Internet Freedom. Retrieved September 26, 2017, from
The paper will deal with two aspects of the privacy-vs-security issue. The first one is concerned with general civil liberties, where privacy is understood to mean freedom to make personal (private) choices in our own homes, control our daily lives and decide with whom we share information that is of our concern – information about our emotions, attitudes, behavior and future decisions and events. The second aspect deals with the privacy vs. security on the internet. Since we live in a technological era, internet has become an inseparable part of our l...
However, government agencies, especially in America, continue to lobby for increased surveillance capabilities, particularly as technologies change and move in the direction of social media. Communications surveillance has extended to Internet and digital communications. law enforcement agencies, like the NSA, have required internet providers and telecommunications companies to monitor users’ traffic. Many of these activities are performed under ambiguous legal basis and remain unknown to the general public, although the media’s recent preoccupation with these surveillance and privacy issues is a setting a trending agenda.
In this new era of the Internet, most people use the Internet to acquire information of one kind or other. But what these people are not aware of is that the Internet is collecting information about them. Every time we get onto the Internet there might be a compromise of privacy of our personal information. The information flows both ways. With every clock of the mouse on a hyperlink, or an addition to the mailing list, someone out there might be gathering information about us. This raises the seriousness of privacy of our information on the Internet.
Today, society is affected by the many advances in technology. These advances affect almost every person in the world. One of the prevalent advances in technology was the invention and mass use of the Internet. Today more than ever, people around the world use the Internet to support their personal and business tasks on a daily basis. The Internet is a portal into vast amounts of information concerning almost every aspect of life including education, business, politics, entertainment, social networking, and world security. (idebate.com) Although the Internet has become a key resource in developing the world, the mass use of Internet has highlighted a major problem, privacy and the protection of individual, corporate, and even government security . The argument over whether or not the Internet should be controlled by the government has developed into a controversial issue in almost every country in the world.
Days, months, and years go by and we do not notice them. Living in such a busy world, we are not always aware of the changes in our lives. Twenty years ago, if someone was told we would be able to buy groceries, pay our bills, buy stocks or even a car through the use of a computer, we might have laughed and blamed too much science fiction television for such wild accusations. However, as the next generation of children grows up, they may find it funny that people still send letters to each other through the post office. The development of the Internet has given us the ability to communicate and exchange information instantly across vast distances. The Internet has caused a huge impact in the communication field, and has made our way of living and working a lot easier, faster, and cheaper than before.
The internet is a total of mediums which are connected between them with channels of communication. The internet is actually an internet after it connects to smaller networks of many countries. The internet rouses the computer and the world of the communications like nothing else before. The invention of the computer, of the telephone, of the telegraph etc, set the stage for this unprecedented completion of faculties. The internet becomes right away a world capable radio broadcast, a mechanism for the distribution of information and a means for the cooperation and the interaction between the individuals and their computers, being indifferent to the geographic place.
The internet has influenced, and is still influencing the way society communicates in many different ways. The rise of the internet has caused people to communicate differently in areas never dreamed of before the internet came into existence. Education has been revolutionized through the world of the “Information Super Highway”. Medicine has also seen reform as the internet improves research and communication. Individuals are starting businesses from scratch, while others are selling household items for extra cash. This internet “typhoon” sweeping the globe has become a way of life for many individuals all across the globe.